Additionally his cohort Brad Labdwerlen wins his cases by losing “brady” evidence i.e. exculpatory evidence.

Also, at first I thought you were Mr. Ausbrook’s client. Sorry for the mistake.

That is exactly the question. Supporters of direct-entry midwifery will argue that the law regulates nurse-midwives only, and that there is no regulation in place for direct-entry miwifery. In some states, this argument has been sucessful. The state will, I’m sure, argue that by licensing nurse-midwives, Indiana intended to regulate the practice of any type of midwifery, rendering the practice of midwifery by those who are not CNMs illegal.

If no regulation exists, does that make the practice of midwifery illegal? Since the practice of midwifery has been in existence for thousands of years longer than either the United States or the state of Indiana, some would argue that the government has no right to regulate midwifery. I don’t necessesarily agree, but it is an interesting argument.

Most states which regulate direct-entry midwifery do so separately from nurse-midwifery. In Texas, I believe, CNMs are regulated by a division of the medical board, while LMs (licensed midwives) are regulated by a separate stand-alone board.

You might find the following resource helpful:
http://www.fromcallingtocourtroom.net/

My understanding was that the only way to legally operate as any kind of midwife in Indiana was to follow the regulations as set forth in current statute(s)–period. Please understand, I’m neither a nurse midwife nor a prosecutor.

Are you saying that if there is no regulatory scheme for “direct entry midwives” then is it okay to function as one and assume that you cannot or should not be prosecuted for violating the current statute(s) on nurse midwives?

I don’t mean to attack you and hope that your situation works out. This is a topic about which I am curious, however. Maybe the current law needs to be amended.

Gee, I’m just a small-town girl and have been taken to task on two different blogs in the last couple of days!

I’m not familiar with the details of your case, but I did live in Bloomington at one time and am aware that there are a number of people in that area who prefer homebirths with midwives to going to a hospital. I did not say that there was no demand for midwife services elsewhere in the state.

As far as I knew, the law on licensure of nurse midwives in Indiana was pretty clear. Perhaps I am mistaken Perhaps in your review of the statutes you have found that they are not clear. Fair enough. I’m interested in seeing what happens with your case.

Of course, a licensure bill has passed the Indiana House at least twice–and by overwhelming margins. The last time around, I believe the vote was something like 84-16. But every time the bill dies, because it arrives in Pat Miller’s senate committee, and Pat Miller won’t give it a hearing.

When I have a minute, I’ll put a link to the complaint against the AG up on my blog. The complaint asks for a wide variety of things, and I expect that it will be joined, presently, by 50 or so additional plaintiffs. Only a small fraction, I believe, are from anywhere near Bloomington, although it might be a larger fraction than I recall off the top of my head.

Don’t want to sterotype too much, but in a college town such as Bloomington, there may be several “midwives” who are not licensed RN’s but have thus far operated under the radar because they have been fortunate enough to have no problems with deliveries and are not loudly advertizing their services.